Family decision making involves more than one person. For this reason,several factors that are not considered when the focus is on the individual, consumer, become important. One factor is the different roles family members play in decision making. Another is whether a decision is likely to be made individually or jointly. The necessity to resolve conflict when family members have different gaols and brand evaluation is the third consideration.
THE FAMILY ROLE STRUCTURE
For a family to function as a cohesive unit,one or more family members must carry out roles or tasks. Family related roles are constantly changing in the highly dynamic society in which we live. For instance in Nigeria today,many women have taken up appointments and are working to earn incomes.
Family members play a variety of roles in making purchase decisions. For example,a family's purchase of a new car might be subject to the following role influences. The teenage sin generates initial family interest,the husband collects information from friends and from social media,both spouses jointly agree on the amount to be spent,all family members agree on the product feature to be sought,the husband selects a dealer from which to buy the car,and the entire family goes along when the purchase is actually made. Each member of the family thus participates in the purchase.
Family role tend to vary by product categories. In addition different families are apt to establish somewhat different family roles for the same product decision. Because of this it is difficult to develop a marketing strategy that reflect a specific role of each family member. However,through carefully planned research,marketers can uncover a pattern of decision making that describes the majority of families potential consumers of their products.
